Director: Guardians of the Galaxy Are Terrible Parents for Baby Groot

The A-holes of the Marvel Universe are set to return in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, coming May 5 from director James Gunn. But, things are different since the last time we saw them. Even though the Guardians are the Andromeda galaxy’s most notorious bounty hunters, their biggest muscle — the sentient tree Groot (Vin Diesel) — has become a lil’ bark who acts like a 2-year-old child. Gunn had some harsh words to say about the Guardians as parents, calling them the worst in the world.

In a recent interview promoting his latest work, the horror film The Belko Experiment, Gunn laid out the individual character arcs that will be explored in Vol. 2. When it came to Groot, Gunn teased something “magical” in the end, but not before seeing some truly awful parenting.

“[T]hey are the worst parents in the entire world!” Gunn told CinemaBlend. “Who else brings a 2-year-old son into a giant battle with a giant monster?” Gunn added that “maybe Gamora and Rocket are better than the other two,” meaning Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and Drax (Dave Bautista).

“All of those things come together in a way that seems pretty magical,” Gunn continued, perhaps echoing an outer space version of that old saying, “it takes a village.”

The recently released teaser trailer teases Gamora’s soft side towards Groot. In an adorable moment, Gamora fights off the giant monster while Baby Groot innocently waves at her. She takes time out of shooting like a badass to say “Hi!” back. Awww.

"I Am Groot." (Translation"Hey mom! Mom! Hey! Hey, mom! Mommy, hey!")

Gunn’s comments about the other characters especially highlight a theme of “family” throughout the film. Each character is looking for some emotional fulfillment that was left there by someone, or something, else. Peter Quill will meet his biological father, Ego (Kurt Russell) while dealing with his “abusive step-father,” Yondu (Michael Rooker). Gamora’s arc involves her sister Nebula (Karen Gillan); they were both raised under the iron tyranny of Thanos. “We thought in the first movie that Gamora was the good guy, and Nebula’s the bad guy, but that really isn’t the whole story.”

Surprisingly, Drax and newcomer Mantis (Pom Klementieff) will also bond as Drax sees her as “a surrogate daughter for the daughter that was murdered.” In the first film, Drax sought revenge against Ronan the Conqueror (Lee Pace) for carelessly murdering his wife and daughter.